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30.10.09

Our winner!

This week's answer is

trees

and the winner is

Susan Silver

Congratulations and thanks for playing everyone. Looking forward to next week's game.

29.10.09

Where we live

Day 80 - Roses bloom in October, who woulda thunk it?


Day 81 - Behind the neighborhood, farms. Beyond that, another town.


Day 82 - Our neighborhood.


There are tons of tiny towns around here with farms in between. I think the farmers live in the towns. They put produce outside their doors with prices on them and cash boxes. You just leave what you owe and take what you want. Everything is so fresh and very colorful. It's a different system than in the states, but seems to be a very efficient one. Most Germans shop every day for that day's food. So these small portions and fresh vegetables are perfect. And delicious!

28.10.09

Reading in Germany

I know you'll all look at that title and say, "You're doing what in Germany!" But the fact is. I'm not a tourist here, I live here now. Plus Albert is at work all day. So I'm doing what I would be doing in Colorado. I'm cooking, cleaning, taking photos, and reading. But so far it's been an odd experience. I didn't think it would be any different than doing it in the states. But with this book it's been shocking. I've read a lot of World War II books in my time. Ranging topics from an American pilot crashing in France, to a holocaust survivor, to a woman who was a Nazi guard. This one, well let's just say it hit me hard.


It's about a little girl in Nazi Germany who is illiterate. The narrator, Death. That alone is one for the record books, and he really makes you kind of pity Death. Death has a horrible job, and that's all it is. But Death is fascinated by humans and their stories. This is the first Holocaust story I've read that doesn't feel like a Holocaust story. We go through the years of the war with this girl, but we see her struggles. Her foster father teaches her to read. She makes friends. They hide a Jew in their basement for a while. They sit through air raids with her reading aloud to calm everyone. She steals books.

It's depicted from the German side. Of course it never condones what Hitler did, in fact her foster family goes against him. But it's not overtly Holocaust. It really focuses on Leisel and her daily life. It is written really well, and truly sucks you in.

The weirdest thing for me...reading a Holocaust book in Germany. I've never been to this country before. And I never thought this would effect me. But as I read through this book I started to think, "That happened here. I'm on that ground." It was very unsettling.

And yet, I went for a walk this afternoon through the farm fields. The countryside is absolutely gorgeous (pictures coming soon). I grew up in a country that hadn't seen war in a very long time. I grew up in a state that has never seen war, maybe a few skirmishes but nothing to the scale of World War II. This is a whole new experience for me, and even though it scares me a little bit, I'm going to embrace it.

27.10.09

100 Photos

Day 76 - went to see the Hope diamond at the national history museum in D.C. and all we wanted to do was take pictures through this globe thingy. Who cares about some big, beautiful diamond when there's a glob of glass just waiting to be pictureified!


Day 77 - mmm, cafe au lait with real sugar!


Day 78 - the colors are changing


Day 79 - the plants in Virginia are odd and breath-taking

26.10.09

Word of the Week Give-away!

Give-away! If you guess on this week's Word of the Week and get the correct answer you will be entered to win Annamaria Potamiti's print Dancers. This contest will be open until Friday 10/30. To play, just guess in the comments what word these four pictures have in common. You can click on the pictures to go to the products. Or click on the shop names to go to the shops. Thanks for playing!

LaMiaCasa.etsy.com


If you have an etsy shop and would like to turn this into a give-away for one of your items, let me know! I will feature you in Word of the Week and display an ad for you on the side of my blog for two weeks.

25.10.09

100 Photos

Day 71 - Arlington


Day 72 - Our German car in D.C.


Day 73 - Mount Vernon


Day 74 - These plants had bright pink stems!


Day 75 - My sweet, sweet Cora, why do you have to use Nikon?

23.10.09

My sister's family



I'm going to post the portraits I worked on this year. The first set was the 2 month pictures of my niece, and we decided to do family portraits at the same time. I took these after having a few years away from my camera. So things only got better from here.

22.10.09

First Day in Germany

We flew in yesterday morning. The flight was good. I don't think anyone enjoys flights, but it was ok. We had an extra seat so that helped. Amazingly I didn't need to take a motion-sickness pill or a sleeping pill. Albert barely slept, but he slept hard last night.

We moved directly into our interim apartment. It is very nice. Wide open and very modern. We have a deck and backyard; and wood floors; and cute little radiators in every room.

For some reason I had to get sick. My throat is killing me.

I walked through our little town today and found the market. Everything is in German, and I had a little bit of culture shock. Their trash system is crazy. They have a bin for paper; a bin for organic material; a bin for metals, plastics, and synthetic material; and a bin for other trash. And if you get it wrong, you get fined. Sounds fun, right? I'm a little frustrated, but attempting to be open-minded about it all.

We went to Stuttgart proper last night and found the big street that is their mall. It's kind of like the 16th street mall in Denver. Konigstrasse is the name of the street, King Street.

The cheapest food is Italian. We're very close to the border and a lot of people here speak Italian and German.

Can't wait to see what the next few days, and especially the weekend, bring.

18.10.09

100 Photos

Day 66 - self picture!


Day 67 - Stork on the cherry tree walk


Day 68 - fall is coming


Day 69 - Forgotten Memorial


Day 70 - Iwo Jima


I regret to inform you that I will not be able to post Word of the Week tomorrow. We are having some issues getting our bird on the plane to Germany, and I'm spending all day dealing with that.

But on a great note, on 10/26 Word of the Week will be a give-away! Stay tuned for that funness.

17.10.09

Tag, you're it!

I feel so loved, I was tagged by Laura Evans. Her etsy shop is levansphotography.etsy.com. A tag means I tell you 10 things about myself and tag 7 other blogs to do the same, if they want of course. So here are my 10 things.

1. I want to write a book. Many ideas are in progress and I just can't seem to get much further
than 30 pages.

2. I'm in love with my husband's Mustang. He doesn't know it, but he might suspect something.

3. I'm a diabetic, type 1. It gives me a love/hate relationship with food because sometimes I have
to eat and I don't want to.

4. I really want to get a tattoo, but I'm a baby when it comes to pain.

5. I play wow. If you don't know what that is, google it.

6. I'm a book editor for American Book Publishing.

7. I miss my horse, he's at my parents' house. He's a beautiful, bay, gelding. Mickey, my short,
pony-like horse.

8. Books are what I do (besides the photography). Most days you can find my nose stuffed in
one. And that same one will be finished later that night.

9. I love comic movies. Spider-man is probably my favorite, but I haven't seen one yet that I
don't like.

10. I hate pink. (Nothing against cancer awareness month by the way.)

It's not a concise list of who I am, but it's probably 10 things you don't know. And now my list of tags.

1. Mom at Grandma Cribley
2. Kelli at Life Flying By
3. Cora at C Kemp Shoot
4. Megan at Studio M.M.E.
5. Rhyah at Darning Diva
6. Calyn at My Simple Words
7. Shannon at J Bird Designs

15.10.09

100 Photos

Day 62 - the first praying mantis I've ever seen in Colorado


Day 63 - The last signs of spring and summer, bees and...


Day 64 - flowers


Day 65 - My sister's crazy dog on a road trip

14.10.09

Finally

We leave on Tuesday for Germany. Finally. It seems like it has been forever even though it has only been a few months since the interview. I'm definitely not looking forward to the flight, thank God for sleeping pills. We head to Atlanta and then straight to Stuttgart. It's nine hours over the Atlantic. Ugh. Right now we are just preparing everything including cell phones, our bird, and extra baggage. It looks like Delta only allows one bag, even overseas. How am I supposed to fit my entire life into one bag? We each have two...that'll be quite an overcharge. Oh well. Soon we'll be in Germany getting settled into our new life. I can not wait.

Exploring our new city. Finding an apartment. Buying a car. Fixing up the apartment. And really getting into the new job. It's going to be such an adventure and I thank God every day that He gave us the opportunity. Even just these few weeks in D.C. have brought my husband and I closer. I am so excited!

13.10.09

The Answer and The Winner

This week's answer is

red

So you were all correct. Although it was a tad obvious I suppose. I had a lot of fun finding those items because red is my favorite color. Had to heart a few things in etsy during the process.

I'm sad to say that last week's word did not help the Rockies out at all. They had a great series against the Phillies but didn't win. My last hope is that the Yankees will get to go to a World Series for the first time in a long time. Go Yankees!

The winner of the photo is Emily Wiser! I will get in contact with you soon and mail it out. Thanks for commenting and entering Mom and AnnaMaria.

12.10.09

Word of the Week

Welcome to Word of the Week. These four pictures have one thing in common, guess what it is in the comments. And you still have a chance to enter the drawing for one of my 5x7 photographs. Just look to the right ---> of this post and click on the picture. I'll post the answer and the winner of the drawing tomorrow!

homelab.etsy.com


totzhatz.etsy.com

If you have an etsy shop and would like to turn this into a give-away for one of your items, let me know! I will feature you in Word of the Week and display an ad for you on the side of my blog for two weeks.

8.10.09

100 Photos

Day 58 - craft project to restore the '69 cracked gas cap on our 'stang


Day 59 - red sunset through the smoke from Cali

Day 60 - Last Rockies game before Germany, we won!


Day 61 - blue bug, who promptly flew into my face after this

6.10.09

The Answer, 100th post give-away

Good morning! I am enjoying some yummy coffee while blogging. I felt like commemorating this awesome post (my 100th) with something. But since my shop isn't open due to moving I think I will just offer a 5x7 of one of my Washington D.C. pictures.

Just comment on this blog post and you will be entered in the drawing.

I will keep the contest open for one week and announce the winner with next week's answer. If you would like to direct someone to the contest I'll put a button on the side of the blog for it.

By the way, the answer is

baseball

Go Rockies! Sweep 'em in the playoffs and win the World Series in the 7th game!

5.10.09

Word of the Week!

Happy Monday everyone. Welcome to Word of the Week. These four pictures have one thing in common, guess what it is in the comments. You can click on the pictures to go directly to the items, or you can click on the shop names to go to the shops. Have fun! I will post the answer tomorrow.


If you have an etsy shop and would like to turn this into a give-away for one of your items, let me know! I will feature you in Word of the Week and display an ad for you on the side of my blog for two weeks.

The Hint: Go Rockies!!!

1.10.09

My Niece

One week ago my niece turned one year old. It's been a year of adventure and surprise. She is the first grand child on both sides and it has been a blast to watch her grow and learn. I will miss her dearly while in Germany. Especially getting to take photos of her constantly. To document her changes I took pictures of her every three months. So this slideshow goes through her 3rd, 6th, 9th months and her first birthday. The music is by Jim Brickman.